Queen Biopic Hires Dexter Fletcher After Bryan Singer's Firing

The 'Eddie the Eagle' director will take over the helming duty for 'Bohemian Rhapsody' starring Rami Malek after Singer was fired by Fox.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" has found a new director after Bryan Singer's firing. "Eddie the Eagle" director Dexter Fletcher has been tapped to replace Singer in the Queen biopic, which has Rami Malek playing the band's frontman Freddie Mercury.

Fox made the announcement on Wednesday, December 6, two days after firing Singer under the "pay or play" provision of his contract. Production on the movie was halted earlier this month as Singer didn't show up on set due to "a personal health matter concerning Bryan and his family."

There was a report saying that Singer was clashing with the movie's lead star Malek. The "Mr. Robot" star reportedly complained to the studio about Singer's "unreliability and unprofessionalism." Tom Hollander was also said briefly exiting the movie because of Singer's behavior, but eventually returned to the set to continue playing Queen manager Jim Beach.

However, the "X-Men" movies director said that his issue with Malek had been resolved and claimed that the studio didn't allow him to care for his ailing parent. "I wanted nothing more than to be able to finish this project and help honor the legacy of Freddie Mercury and Queen, but Fox would not permit me to do so because I needed to temporarily put my health, and the health of my loved ones, first," Singer said on Monday following his firing.

He went on explaining, "Rumors that my unexpected departure from the film was sparked by a dispute I had with Rami Malek are not true. While, at times, we did have creative differences on set, Rami and I successfully put those differences behind us and continued to work on the film together until just prior to Thanksgiving."

Filming on "Bohemian Rhapsody" is now set to resume next week in London. Despite the director shakeup and the temporary production shutdown, the biopic is still scheduled for release on December 25, 2018 in the United States.